Monday 4 March 2024
Prime Minister James Marape and Minister Assisting on Treasury matters, Ian Ling- Stuckey (left) with IMF Officials.
Prime Minister James Marape and the Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Bo Li, recently opened the new IMF Resident Representative Office in Port Moresby.
The opening of this office adds the IMF to the list of international institutions and banks with permanent offices here in Papua New Guinea, including the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB).
“I am pleased after four and a half years of re-building engagement with the IMF and personally requesting, through Prime Minister Marape, for a permanent IMF office in PNG, it has now been achieved.
“This is a strong gesture of the IMF’s commitment to PNG and attestation of the success of the Marape-Rosso Governments engagement with international partners” said Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Treasury matters, Ian Ling-Stuckey.
“Our engagement with the IMF has opened up cheap lending from bilateral and multilateral partners and directly from the IMF-who stepped in to support the Government’s reforms and finances during COVID19 and subsequently.”
“In 2019 we re-established a strong working relationship with the IMF, who have supported our budget repair program to restore public finances. They provide a crucial independent validation of our work”, noted the Minister.
The IMF team re-affirmed the very strong performance of Papua New Guinea under the first review of the ECF/EFF program, and Prime Minister Marape re-iterated gratitude for the IMF’s support of the Government’s reform agenda, including budget repair, establishment of ICAC and strengthening of the PNG Central Bank.
The IMF Mission Chief for Papua New Guinea, Mr. Tahsin Saadi-Sedik and Resident Representative, Mr. Sohrab Rafiq, attended the opening, alongside the Deputy Director of the Asia Pacific Department, Mr. Sanjaya Panth and Economist Mr. Fabian Gonguet.